Improvement in revolving fire-arms



No. 45,933. Putcntvd Jun. 24. 1865.

2 Sheets- SMM 2.

W. C. DODGE.

Revolving Fire-arm No. 45,983. Patented Jan. 24, 18H5.

UNITI-:D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM C. DODGE, OFIWSHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

-INIPROVENIENT IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 45,983., dated January'14, 1865 To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G Donen, of thc city of Washington andDistrict of Colum-- bia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and to theletters ot' reference marked, which several tgures will be hereinafterexplained.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts in each of the figures.

The nature ot' my invention consists in the peculiar construction .ofthe frame, cylinder, and hammer ot revolving tire-arms, and the mannerof attaching said parts to each other, whereby the arm is adapted to theuse of a retractor for the removal instantly ot' the cartridge-caseswithout the removal from connection with the arm of any of'the parts orthe employment of any separate or detached rod or other device. l

lo enable others skilled in the art to construct and use myimprovements, I will proceed to describe them.

In all cases where a retractor is to be use d which will simultaneouslyremove all the cairtridge-cases it is necessary that the cylinder be sohung or att-ached to the frame that the end from which thecartridge-cases are to be ejected can be uncovered or exposedfree'froxn. obstructions in order to permit the retractor to operate. Toaccomplish this object, and at the same time give the requisite strengthand accuracy of movement to' the various parts, it is necessary toconstruct the frame in a peculiar manner and to attach the cylinderthereto by novel means.

When it is desired to have the cylinder and barrel swing over in avertical plane, I construct the post e of frame C in the style shown inFig. 2, in which the part e' is made to project backward underneath thecylinder at a right angle to e. This part e is then bored outlongitudinally, thereby forming a sleeve, as clearly shown in section iuFig. 2. The front portion of F' is then formed into a journal to iitinto said sleeve, where it is secured by the screw a. The upper portionot' frame C' is so constructed as to extend back from the upper end otpost e above the cylinder, forming the bridge-piece p, which reachesback to the recoil or breech plate, with which it engages by a dovetailor lock joint, as shown in Figs. 2, 9, 11, and 16. By these means Isecure great accuracy of movement in the parts Wthouthaving anyprojection ot' the joint in front otpost c, and at the same time thebridgepiecep, by being locked to the breech, receives more or less ofthe strain caused by the eXplo-` sion of the charge, and thereby savesthe joint below from injury or undue strain,which would otherwise soonrenderthejoiutloose, and thereby destroy the accuracy of movementnecessary to make the arm operate as intended. p

When it is desired toihave the cylinder and barrel swing round inahorizontal plane the front part of F is made to extend upward above themain or horizontal part thereof and at a rightangle thereto, as shown insection in Fig. 1l at c. This part c" is then bored through vertically,thus forming a sleeve, into which the lower portion of part 6 is fitted,the journal u being formed thereon for that purpose, and the parts beingsecured together'by the screw a', as in the case above described,`

When it is desired to use a cylinder in which the cartridges areinserted and ejected at the front end thereof the frame is constructedas lshown in Fig. 2, as it is evident that the front end of the cylindercan only be exposed by having the barrel and frame'so pivoted as toswing in a vertical plane, the cylinder in such case being attached atits rear end to the recoilplate or breech portion ot the frame, asvshown in Fig. 16.

When the style of' frame shown in Figs. 2 and 16 is used I place asliding bolt, q, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,) longitudinally in asuitable seat provided for it in bridge-piecep,

said bolt having a projection on its under side,

which, as the bolt is forced back by a spring,

engages in the recess or notch r in the frontV face of recoil-plate E.(Shown in Fig. 16.) The face of this projection ou bolt q is so beveledthat when the frame is swung into position for rin g the bolt will yieldautomatically as it comes in contact with the face of plate E, and thuspermit pto swing into place, where it is securely and automaticallylocked by bolt g, as already described.

When the style of frame shown in Fig. 9 is used the locking-bolt islocated vertically in' breech piece or plate E, the special arrangementthereof being hereinafter described.

In order to attach the cylinder properly and t it for the use of myretractor, I hang it upon a tubular bolt, g, as shown in section in Fig.2. It' the cylinder is to be charged at the rear, then bolt g will berigidly attached at its front end to post e; but if the cylinder is tobe charged at its front end, then the boltg will be secured to thebreech piece or plate E. It is 'obvious that this boltg may be formedsolid with the frame G or breech-piece E, it' desired.

In Fig. l1 I have shown another method of hanging the cylinder whichwill accomplish the same objects, and which I consider but a modied foxmot that above described. In lthis case the cylinder is hung and rotatesupon a neck orjournal, lL, projecting from the end of the cylinder, andwhich, if desired, may be made solid with the cylinder, forming a partthereof'. Thisjournal h will have its bearing in iront in post e or inrear in plate E, according as the cylinderis intended to be loaded atfront or rear end.

In Fig. 1l the cylinder is shown with the central bore for the passageof the retractorstem b enlarged or chambered rn'ost of the way through.This is done for the purpose ot' seating the spring c therein, wherebyroom for its expansion and contraction is obtained without having thestem b protrude so far in front as when the springis applied entirelyoutside of the cylinder, as in Fig. 2. The spring may -be similarlyseated when the tubular bolt g is used by similarly chambering itscentral bore.

Itwill be observed that whetherthe cylinder be hung as shown in Fig. 2or as in Fig. ll there is no permanent attachment of the cylinder to theframe except at one end. For the purpose of rendering the cylinder moresecure in its position and insuring the coincidence of its chambers withthe bore ofthe barrel, Iprovide it with a movable support or bearing atthe end opposite that which is attached to the frame. This I accomplishby causing the end ot'stem b to pass through plate a and project outsideof a, as shown by fz', Figs. 9, l1, and 1G. Thisprojectionentersacorresponding groove, q', in the plate E, (or otherportion ofthe frame, if the cylinder loads atthe 'ront,) where it has afirm bearing. The projection t' is securely held in place by meansoflatch 7c, which works in a recess in the face of plate E, said latch khaving a notch or recess, n, in its upper edge, which engages with iwhen the latter is forced into its seat at the center ot' E, as shown inFig. 14.

VVithin the plate E is placed avertical latch `or spring-bolt, Z, whichis connected to latch 7c and the former by the projecting point as theparts are swung into position for tiring. When the pa-rts are inposition they are securely locked there by the upper end ot' bolt lengaging in asuitable recess in the under side ofp and the pointengaging in the notch n. in latch r.

The hammer is located centrally in the stock for the purpose of allowingthe use ofthe simplest form of lock, .and the neck or body of it, as itrises above the stock, is then curved or bent to the left for thepurpose of allowing more room for the thumbto operate the thumbpiece m,as shown in Fig. 5. This will bring the point 10 of the hammer in such aposition that it will strike vertically along one side of .thc face orend of the cartridge, as shown in Fig. 14, in which the position ofthecartridge is indicated by a red line. By this means the face of thehammer is made to cover a much larger portion ofthe rim containing thefulminate than when it strikes radially across said rim, as is usual,and thus the probability ot' igniting the charge is proportionatelyincreased.

The hammer is constructed as shown in Fig. 2, and so located that noportion of it is elevated above bridge piece p. Instead of the usualprojecting hook, the upper rearportion is formed as shown at Fig. 2. Theobject of thus forming the hammer is twofold: rst, to prevent it fromcatching in the bolster or pocket when inserted therein and producingaccidental discharges; and, secondly, to prevent it from becomingentangled therein when it is desired to withdraw it for use.

By these various means I provide a revolving arm to which the many-facedretractor can be applied and operated without detaching any of theparts.

By pressing the thumb upon m the pivoted frame and cylinder areins-tantly released, when, by a slight pressure ofthe barrel against thesaddle, leg, or other object, it is swung round, bringing the nut (l onthc end ot' the retractor-stein within reach ot' the thumb, by a slightmovement of which all the cartridgecases'are sim ultaneously andinstantly ejected without the aid of any separate device, and all by theuse ot' one hand only.

By these improvements I also avoid the'necessity of deta'ching thecylinder or any other portion of the arm for the purpose either ofremoving the cartridgecases or of reloading it, and hence all danger ofdropping or losing any ot" the parts is entirely avoided. This in thecase of mounted troops is very important, and it' the arm is to be usedin the dark, as is oftentimes the case, this feature is renderedstill'more important.

By this construction and arrangement ot' the parts I provide a revolvingarm which, by the ease and rapidity ot' its manipulations, can berepeatedly loaded and tired in an action, Whereas the arm as usuallyconstructed is seldom emptied ofits charges but a single time; and,tinally, I provide perfect security against the accidental dischargesnow so frequent, and also against the danger of the arm being renderedinoperative orunavailable at a moment when its instant use is of vitalimportance, as' already explained.

Having thus fully described my improvements and their operation, what Iclaim as of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The slidinglock-bolt q, arranged in'bridgepiece p, as shown anddescribed, whereby the parts can be locked automatically and can beunlocked and swung over by a sin gle applica'- l tion ofthe thumb, andthe whole operation performed by the use of one hand only.

2. Hanging the cylinder on the tubularbolt r/ or hollow journal ,h whenconnected to the frame at one end only, whether at front or rear.

8. Supporting the detached end ot' the cylinder by the projection i, andgroovej, substantially as specified.

4. Locking the projection@ in place by the latch 7c, or its equivalent,substantially as shown and described.

5. So arranging bolt Z and latch 7c that both can be operatedsimultaneousl y and by a single movement.

6. Constructing .and arranging bolt l and latch k in such a manner as topermit the front and rear portions ot' the frame to be lockedautomatically as they are swung` into position for firing, whereby theuse of one hand only is required in the operation.

Witnesses: WlLLlAM C. DODGE.

R. D. O. SMITH, JNO. D. PATTEN.

